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For Checks and Blog Content, We Need Both Words and Numbers

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Writing a check
When it comes to check writing, business humorist Todd Hunt learned the hard way, words trump numbers. The humiliation will live with him forever, he admits, but he learned something: The bank goes by the amount you write in words (on the line that says “Pay”), not the numerals you write in the box. What actually happened, Hunt explains, is that he miswrote the words, which made his check worth more than he meant it to be…resulting in an overdraft. So, he concludes, words trump numerals.

In fact, to prevent his readers from falling into the same trap, Hunt shares an instructive article about foiling crooks when using checks. The gist of it is, write out the amount using words to avoid fraud and confusion.

“I am a Qualitative Social Scientist,” states Sarah-Louise Quinnell “I believe in that words tell you more than numbers”, she says, She came to that conclusion, she reveals, in researching cognitive processes for her Doctoral thesis.

For example, Quinell discusses a particular statistic:

“85% of students ranked the class a 4 or above”.

That sounds positive, she explains, until you dig a bit deeper and find out that only 30% of the people in the class answered the question!

“Words on the other hand,” she points out, “are harder to manipulate. They also tell you why someone voted a particular way.” To improve customer satisfaction you need to understand the why’s,” she concludes.

Business blog headlines and business blogs themselves are filled to the brim with statistics. In fact, one of the hottest trends in business blogging today is infographics, which is a way of presenting statistics in visually appealing form by combining numbers with graphic images. “Infographics are all over the place nowadays. How do you know which ones to trust?” asks Randy Olson.

In fact, Olson views “data visualizations” or “infographics” with a jaundiced eye. Yes, he admits, they have repeatedly provided us with new and insightful perspectives on the world around us. However, time and time again, he says, “we have seen that data visualizations can easily be manipulated to lie.”

As a corporate blogging trainer, I see a lot of value in the use of numbers in blog posts (assuming, of course, that statistics are presented fairly and honestly).

Using numbers in blog post titles is a great way to set expectations for a post. It tells readers exactly what they’re going to get, and exactly how much of it, says Pamela Vaughan of Hubspot.

But where the words come in, I believe, is that one of the primary functions blogs serve is putting statistics into perspective, so that readers are given the answer to the “So what?” and “So, what’s in-it-for-me” questions.

Payors must fill out their checks with both words and numbers. Business blog post content writers should do the same.

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A Business Blog Needs Words

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emoji

“Blogging has become the best possible way to leverage your online presence and gain traction with Internet searches performed by your potential clients.”(No surprise there, but what I did find surprising is the source of the remark – none other than the National Association of Realtors!)

The realtor website went on to repeat the modern blogging mantra: “An interesting, relevant image is an essential part of your blog post. It’s not merely aesthetic; it’s crucial for boosting your readership and your SEO. People are much more likely to read a blog illustrated with a nice image,” the NAR advises. “It doesn’t matter what industry, topic, niche, or specialty, images matter.”

“Hey!” I sometimes want to shout. “Don’t forget that, no matter what industry, topic, niche, or specialty, the main content of the blog post consists (or at least should consist) of WORDS. Words matter.” Jennifer Olney of bealeader.com knows what I mean. In “Lazy Blogging: Why Your Word Matter,” Olney comments that too many authors rely on visuals to take the lazy way out of writing. Real authors, she implies use adult words and showcase their understanding of the use and beauty of the English language.

“Content comes in many forms, but web copy, articles and blog posts are among the most popular – and effective,” writes Dan Hughes of jtvdigital. Like Olney, Hughes observes that “ Many people overlook words and the power they have to entice their target audience. In this day and age, pictures and video are powerful promotional tools that cater to the attention span of the modern digital consumer, Hughes points out. “However,” he continues, “much like any business, well-crafted web copy is an essential part of success.”

“Words are art, and our ability to convey our message in words helps us be understood without distraction, Olney says. All the emojis in the world could not convey the extent to which I agree!

 

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Business Blog Tidbits Far From Useless

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love and togetherness
So, why do I find seeming “useless” tidbits of information so very useful when it comes to blog content writing? Let me count the ways:

1. Tidbits can be used to describe your way of doing business, to clarify the way one of your products works, or explain why one of the services you provide is particularly effective in solving a problem. It’s interesting when business owners or practitioners present little-known facts about their own business or profession.  In “Keep It Cool,” for example, Mental Floss magazine reviews the history of air conditioning, telling the story of how, when President Garfield was shot and lay dying in the White House, inventors rushed forward with devices they hoped would help, using a contraption to blow air over a box of ice into a series of tin pipes, eventually using a half-million pounds of ice. History tidbits in general engage readers’ curiosity, evoking an “I didn’t know that!” response.

2. One thing I suggest stressing in blog posts is best business practices.  While one goal of any SEO marketing blog is to help your business “get found”, once that’s happened, the goal changes to helping the online readers get comfortable with the way you do business. Mental Floss Magazine highlighted the making of the 1991 movie “The Silence of the Lambs”, in which the serial murderer is obsessed with collecting rare moths.  Animal rights groups might have protested the exploitation of harmless insects just to make a film, but, thanks to animal wrangler Raymond Mendez, the 300 tomato hornworm moths traveled first class, were kept in a room with special heat and humidity settings, outfitted with tiny harnesses during high speed stunts. Blog content writing is the perfect vehicle for conveying a corporate message like this one, starting with a piece of trivia, presented to make a point.

3. Common myths surround every business and profession.  If you notice a “factoid” circulating about your industry, a common misunderstanding by the public about the way things really work in your field, you can use a little-known tidbit of information that reveals the truth behind the myth. In Mental Floss Magazine, I found a cute myth-debunking article about the “Eskimo kiss”. Popular wisdom claims that Eskimos rub noses (because kissing on the lips would cause their mouths to freeze together). The myth started in Hollywood when the director of the 1922 movie “Nanook of the North” saw Eskimo women giving their babies “kuniks”, pressing their noses against their babies’ cheeks and breathing in their scent. Truth be told, Eskimos kiss on the lips just like everyone else. That Eskimo kiss debunk would be perfect for the blog of a lip balm company, a lipstick manufacturer, or a candy company around Valentine’s Day.

For clarifying and debunking, and to add variety and fun, tidbits of information are far from useless!

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Don’t-Worry-We-Organized-Them-For-You Blogging for Business

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Cleopatra

“Turns out someone left a whole world of ridiculously interesting facts out there. Don’t worry! We organized them for you,” Mental Floss magazine editors assure readers. How? Well in the May-June issue, seemingly diverse pieces of information are organized by tens:

“10 Ways Beauty Gave History a Makeover: covers topics ranging from pharma discoveries based on ancient Egyptians’ eye makeup to Winston Churchill’s meeting with women’s magazine editors to frame the wartime rationing of textiles as the new stylish and patriotic fashion in dress; “10 Services You Never Knew You Needed” discusses gift certificates for unusual services, from lawn-mowing goats to grandma rentals.

Using a unifying theme to organize different pieces of information is called chunking. Chunking is, in fact, a good way for business bloggers to offer technical information in easily digestible form.

Just as the Mental Floss editors took separate anecdotes from history, and separate units of product descriptions, relating them to a unifying theme, bloggers can use chunking to show how individual units of information about their industry or business are related, perhaps in ways readers hadn’t considered.

Mental Floss is also using the “list” technique that is so very useful in freshening up blog post content: Starting with one idea about your product or service, put a number to it, such as “2 Best Ways To …,”  “3  Problem Fixes to Try First….”, or “4 Simple Remedies for…”

The point of the “lists”, of course, is to demonstrate ways in which your product or service is different, and to provide valuable information that engages readers and makes the information easy to grasp and retain.

In every business or profession, there’s no end, it seems, to the technical information available to consumers on the Internet. It falls to us business blog content writers, though, to break all that information down into chewable tablet form, helping readers make sense out of the ocean of information available to them.

Looking for information on a particular topic? Don’t worry, business owners can reassure their blog readers – we organized it for you!

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A Tale of Two Ad Titles – Part Two

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Yellow sunglasses isolated on white background
The second of two advertisements that appeared in Science News Magazine illustrates a second set of lessons about blog titles and blog content writing in general.

(The first, “It’s Enough to Make You Blue in the Face” was an advertisement for the Stauer Urban Blue® wristwatch.) That ad was overloaded with features, benefits, a testimonial, even a giveaway offer. And, while the title made a “cutesy” use of the color blue of the watch and the expression “blue in the face”, it had no keyword phrases in it that would work for SEO.

The second ad,

“But When Driving, These Sunglasses May Save Your Life”
(advertisement for Eagle Eyes® Navigator sunglasses)

used a very different approach, called “fear marketing”, centering on the dangers of not using the product:

  • “Driving in fall and winter can expose you to the most dangerous glare…do you know how to protect yourself?”
  • “Some ordinary sunglasses can obscure your vision by exposing your eyes to harmful UV rays, blue light, and reflective glare.”

Like the Stauer® Urban Blue wristwatch ad, this ad lists product benefits:

  • “The TriLenium® Lens Technology offers triple-filter polarization to block 99.9% UVA and UVB
  • A 60-day money-back guarantee

And, like the wristwatch ad, this one offers a giveaway – an extra pair of glasses, with two micro-fiber drawstring cleaning pouches.

In place of a customer testimonial, this ad cites the official recognition given its product by the Space Certification Program of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

What are some takeaways for corporate blog writers?

First, while fear is one of the seven emotions that marketing writer Courtney Mills calls key drivers for successful ad copywriting, my view is that scare tactic marketing is not the best approach in blogs. To appeal to a better kind of customer – the kind that buys for the right reasons and then remains loyal, Calls to Action  should appeal to readers’ logic and positive emotional appeal.

The blog title does contain the keyword “sunglasses”, but might be more effective placed at the beginning, “These sunglasses may save your life”.

The connection with research done at NASA makes for interesting “backstory”content that could have been made the focus of the blog post. Alternately, the focus might have been on helpful hints for protecting your eyes.

As I like to remind business owners and professional practitioners, it’s interested people who are showing up at your blog in the first place. Now the task is to help those searchers get to know you and your company. Keep it informative and go easy on the hard sell.

 

 

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